[CCoE Notice] Please Update MX-Records for University of Houston

[Luong, Kiet A]

Good morning,

I want to pass along this suspicious email below, and to analyze it with you all so we can get better at recognizing these.  These are the “red flags” that I can identify from this email:

-the person sending the email may have a UH email address, but we don’t know who that person is.  The name appears to be a UH student.  I don’t think IT Security or any UH records will use a student to send out mass emails to everyone, threatening to permanently disable accounts if not verified

-the main message of the email is to ask you to verify your account or it will be permanently disabled, but the subject mentions MX records (which I know nothing about)

-when hovering the curser over the link, you can see that the “verify now” link goes to: https//bit.do.fgh8u.  This is definitely not a UH website

-a legitimate UH system administrator will never threaten to permanently disable an account if they are not verified.  Emails from me would have gone out beforehand, letting everyone know if an action needs to be taken.

-always check for grammatical errors since scams often originate from overseas.  This suspicious email has several grammatical errors

-the signature is vague and does not have an individual contact info for the person sending the email.  Even then, we should verify by calling the person to confirm a suspicious message, using the UH address book/directory

Here is a link to IT Security’s advise on how to recognize SPAM and Phishing emails: https://uh.edu/infotech/security/secure-data/spam-phishing/

Please keep these strategies in mind when analyzing suspicious emails in the future.

Thanks and stay safe.

Kiet Luong
Director of Engineering Computing
College Information Security Officer
Cullen College of Engineering
University of Houston
Email: KietL at uh.edu<mailto:KietL at uh.edu>
Voice: 713.743.9974
From: "Banawan, Ahmed A" <aabanawa at Central.UH.EDU<mailto:aabanawa at Central.UH.EDU>>
Date: July 17, 2020 at 8:23:47 AM CDT
Subject: Please Update MX-Records for University of Houston

[https://mcusercontent.com/8b63db7840ef4db29ac4731fa/images/d1171720-9a00-421b-9fe7-578d1b82e505.png]






Your account has been held for your protection.



Please log on here now Houston Account Verification  and follow the instructions.
If you fail to do this, Your account will be permanently blocked.






Verify Now<https://bit.do/fGH8U>






Thank You
University of Houston



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